Former skipper Michael Clarke is considering a comeback to top flight Australian domestic cricket after announcing his retirement from all forms of the game back in August 2015. According to reports from Cricket Australia, the World Cup winning Aussie captain held discussions with Cricket New South Wales about his return in this year’s Matador BBQs One-Day Cup and also in the Big Bash League.
The 35-year-old retired from international cricket following Australia’s Ashes defeat on English soil last year. However, he also talked about his comeback earlier this year. He played in the Sydney Grade cricket in February and will also feature in the T20 Blitz tournament which will be held in Hong Kong for two days next week.
The right-handed batsman is yet to finalise his cricketing future beyond the Hong Kong competition but Cricket NSW have confirmed that they held discussions with Clarke regarding his comeback this summer.
Clark could use the One-Day tournament as a platform to get used to the mix after an absence of almost a year. Earlier this year, the BBL franchise Sydney Sixers confirmed that they held a discussion with him about his signature.
If the plays in the Matador Cup, it will be his first One-Day outing since he lifted the Cricket World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last March. Clarke has scored almost 8,000 runs in ODI cricket at an average of 44.58 but hasn’t featured in a One-Day fixture for the Blues since 2012.
Clarke hasn’t spoken about his return to Australian domestic circuit yet as he is currently focusing on the two-day tournament in Hong Kong. The New South Wales-born cricketer was very excited about his upcoming outing in Hong Kong.
He talked about the tournament last month and said, "I am really excited to be playing with the Kowloon Cantons in the upcoming T20 tournament. I can’t wait to meet my teammates and experience the city, while also hopefully contributing to the game of cricket in Hong Kong which I know has been coming on leaps and bounds in recent years."
Clarke, who has more than 16,000 international runs under his belt hasn’t played an international T20 match since October 2010. He also hasn’t featured in the shortest format since his stint in the Indian Premier League for the now defunct franchise Pune Warriors India in 2012.
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